


Her Name is Sylvia

by Istalindir



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Angst, Confusion, Elde Inn, Gen, Memory Loss, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 20:04:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16435889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Istalindir/pseuds/Istalindir
Summary: What if the journey between realms was not as smooth and risk-free as the game would have you believe?What if someone fell through the cracks?





	Her Name is Sylvia

Her name is Sylvia.

She remembers that. Repeats it to herself everyday so she doesn’t forget.

Every detail of her life is cataloged again and again. Don’t forget.

 

**_'I work at Elde inn. Goron come often to bathe in the hot springs. I grew up in Kakariko village. My mother’s name is… is Janet or Jane or… or.'_ **

 

Don’t forget, _don’t forget_.

 

**_'I have two brothers, but father is gone. And I like- I like sensation, sunlight, the smell of grass and Mother running a brush through my hair.'_ **

 

She reminds herself of these things.  She’s afraid of what will happen if (when) she forgets them.

 

**_'My name is Sylvia. I work at Elde inn. Goron come often to bathe in the hot springs. I grew up in Kakariko village. I have a mother and two brothers.'_ **

 

She starts following her mother. Slinking from shadow to shadow and watching her. When people greet her, they call her Julia and people greet her often. Smiling, everyone is always smiling. Something ugly, bitter and aching curls up inside her when she watches her mother _(Julia, Julia, Julia)_ smile back.

She tries to follow her brothers too, but they leave often. The world beyond Kakariko’s canyon walls is bright. Bright and terrifying. It would strip her to nothing. Peel her open and leave nothing behind. She watches them leave but mother is here. Mother is safe. The walls are safe. She is safe here.

 

**_'My name is Sylvia. I work at Elde inn. Goron come often to bathe in the hot springs. I grew up in Kakariko village. I have a mother.'_ **

 

The village grows, people visit often, and Sylvia watches them interact. She can't remember what being seen, being smiled at and spoken to feels like. She wants to remember. She wishes she could.

The visitors are exciting despite this. They are new and watching them distracts her from herself.

 

**_'My name is Sylvia. I work at Elde inn. Goron come often to bathe in the hot springs. I grew up in Kakariko village.'_ **

 

The woman she used to follow leaves the village. It makes her sad though she can't understand why. There are so many other people to watch. They bring stories of the world beyond Kakariko. She learns the usurper has been defeated and the princess restored.

She doesn't quite understand what a princess is but hearing the stories help her feel real. They're told in the inn at night and, in a crowd, she almost doesn't feel alone.

 

**_'My name is Sylvia. I work at Elde inn. Goron come often to bathe in the hot springs.'_ **

 

Goron still visit the hot springs but now other people come too. The village is big. People have started to call it a city. She can't reach the edge of the village anymore, it spills beyond the walls and it scares her.

She stays near the inn now. She thinks if she goes too far she won't be able to find her way back.

 

**_'My name is Sylvia. Goron come to Elde Inn often to bathe in the hot springs.'_ **

 

Sylvia finds out that if it rests inside sleeping customers it can touch objects. Even move the smaller ones! But it can't feel them. Customers talk about feeling often.

Soft, hard, smooth, rough. Sylvia wonders what those words mean. It wishes it knew.

 

**_'Goron come to Elde Inn often to bathe in the hot springs.'_ **

 

The shadow figures out that if it rests inside more than one person a night it can stand the light in small doses. It wants to be stronger. It needs more.

It tries something new one night. It spreads throughout one body and seeks not to absorb passively but to take. That body doesn't get up the next day, but the shadow doesn’t care. The rush of energy is overwhelming, dizzying. It spends several light and dark cycles sliding, dazed, from one patch of darkness to another, thoughtless.

For the first time, the shadow feels. It feels **_hungry_.**


End file.
